Follow These 4 Tips to Improve Your Sales Leadership Skills, with Rana Salman, Episode #77

Follow These 4 Tips to Improve Your Sales Leadership Skills, with Rana Salman, Episode #77

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Few professionals are as knowledgeable in sales leadership as Rana Salman, Principal of Salman Consulting LLC. She’s my guest for this episode of #SellingWithSocial, and she shares the 4 best tips for sales leadership. We discuss why having exceptional customer service skills, passion, and self-awareness are critical components in the social selling business. She also encourages sales leaders to frame their sales calls in a logical way and diversify their teams. If you want to up your sales leadership game and discover entirely new levels of selling success, don’t miss this episode. Listen now!

Follow these 4 tips to improve as a #sales leader, with Rana Salman of @SalmanConsult on this episode of #SellingWithSocial, hosted by @M_3Jr. Listen now! #SalesLeaders #SalesLeadership #leadership #SocialSalesClick To Tweet

Tip #1 – Have the BEST Customer Service Skills

Rana explains that “You don’t need to have the best technology. You DO need to have the best customer experience.” Understanding prospects as human beings and having authentic, 2-way sales conversations are fundamental steps in landing contracts. If you sell to people, not accounts, you’ll grow your sales leadership skills exponentially. Rana also encourages marketers and salespeople alike to be engaged with a prospect through every step of the process, even after it passes through your designated area. Sending thoughtful follow-up notes, checking in during important milestones, and asking questions will keep your relationships with your customers strong.

Tip #2 – Use This Structure for Framing Your Sales Call Questions

If you have a title involving “sales,” you need to be actively selling and bringing in a lead every single month. Simple crossing the threshold into sales leadership positions doesn’t mean you can forget how to actually sell and represent your brand. Rana and I share 6 main steps to follow when proposing questions in a sales call. Here they are.

  1. Understand the company
  2. Understand the team
  3. Understand how they sell today (and what are the results)
  4. What are the competitive differentiators?
  5. What’s their philosophy on sales training?
  6. What’s their budget?

Questions posed in this manner will build trust and relatability with your prospect. It’ll help the conversation flow naturally and you’ll be more prepared to actively listen to their responses.

You don’t need the best tech. You DO need the best #CustomerExperience for a buyer to buy. - To hear more from Rana of @SalmanConsult, check out this ep of #SellingWithSocial, hosted by @M_3Jr. Listen now! #Sales #SalesLeadership #ManagementClick To Tweet

Tip #3 – Diversify Your Sales Team and Value Your People

Great sales leaders hire with diversity in mind. I’ve talked about this on past shows how sales leaders need to be focused on diversity in sales. However, diversity goes beyond basic demographics. Serving within a sales leadership role is improved when you have a team of people who challenge you and ask the tough questions. That’s when true innovation and stellar performance flourish.

Rana also encourages listeners to hire for talent, not necessarily for industry experience. If you find a potential employee with passion and the ability to connect with people, they will take your company far.

Tip #4 – Don’t Neglect Self-Awareness – it’s Critical for Successful Sales Leadership

One of the most neglected areas of sales leadership development is self-awareness. Understanding yourself, your emotions, and your personality characteristics are tied to career success and financial stability. It’s also a needed component in emotional intelligence. Optimizing your strengths, reflecting and observing, being mindful, and refining your active-listening skills are all ways to improve your level of self-awareness. Being aware of and working through your weaknesses is also needed in sales leadership positions. You can listen to my growth story on the road to becoming an effective team sales leader. For the full story behind these 4 tips, and many more, don’t miss this podcast episode.

If you sell to people, not accounts, you’ll grow your #Sales pipeline exponentially. Check out more tips from Rana of @SalmanConsult on this ep of #SellingWithSocial, hosted by @M_3Jr. Listen now! #SalesLeaders #Leadership #DigitalSellingClick To Tweet

Outline of This Episode

  • [1:02] Rana is an expert in sales leadership, and she’s my guest for this episode
  • [4:35] Refine your customer service skills by using these techniques
  • [9:12] The importance of staying involved during the account handoff stage
  • [15:40] Here’s how to structure your sales questions for ultimate success
  • [19:17] Diversify your sales team and care about your people
  • [25:54] Why self-awareness is so critical for sales leaders

Resources Mentioned

One of the things I love to do is to read amazing sales books and listen to sales podcasts.  That is why we’ve created best sales books to read list and the best podcasts for sales list for sales leaders, sales managers, and sales reps. Click through these and give them a listen! Also, take a look at the resources below mentioned during this podcast:

Connect with Mario!

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Click To Tweets:

Innovation occurs when a #SalesLeader hires people who challenge the status quo. How can you make a better hire? Don’t miss this ep of #SellingWithSocial, hosted by @M_3Jr, feat. guest Rana Salman of @SalmanConsult. #Sales #SalesLeadershipClick To Tweet
Rana Salman of @SalmanConsult and @M_3Jr share 6 main steps to follow when preparing for a #sales call on this episode of #SellingWithSocial. Check it out! #SalesLeaders #SalesLeadership #SocialSellingClick To Tweet

 

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